In terms of next season...I'm picking up with Rhiannon one year later...I've come too far with this character to re-boot her. She will be married but as the year end montage will show...she has realized the downside to the deal she has made.

__________________
Know yourself & your enemy & you need not fear the outcome of a thousand battles-- General Sun-Tzu

There are alot of deserving candidates for this, MST's Atom and Byrd's Flash being the immediate to come to mind. But there's one character that's always probably been overlooked in the game, and it happens to be the most consistent in portrayal, quality, and an obvious respect for the lore of it's subject. And that's The Man of Steel, as portrayed by Spike. His ultimizations not only make sense for the game and the world he's been crafting for Metropolis, they're actually pretty far and away improvements to what's already there. Why wasn't Jimmy Olsen ever in on Clark's secret in the comics? It makes too much sense. Simple stuff that gets taken for granted, when it sets up a fantastic portrayal that reminds us what Superman really is - something that the current comics aren't doing a particularly good job of conveying.

Best Villain: Vandal Savage (Andy C.)

If there's one thing Andy's always been good at, it's setting up a bigger picture. And there was no more perfect instrument for realizing his obviously well-thought out goals than Vandal Savage. The one man with the balls to take on the entire Justice League openly and to their face, you see a supervillain in every sense of the word whenever Andy's Savage takes center stage. It's the kind of villain that forces the heroes to overcome impossible odds, and maybe even beyond, because up until the end, Savage was on top. The only scarier thought than that is imagining what would have happened if he'd actually won.

Best Character Development: The Flash (Byrd Man)

There's not a whole lot to say about Byrd's Flash that hasn't been said already. Hell, I don't think a season's gone by where I haven't given him the Best Hero slot. But really, what it boils down to, and what Ultimate Flash has always boiled down to, is this - the heart. The Flash was known pretty heavily as a jokester and a goof, but in Season III, that changed pretty drastically. Bart's in a pretty dark place whenever his chapter closes, and it wasn't much better than that for the rest of the season. After some truly shocking twists and not just one, but two great versions of Ultimate Zoom for him to face off against, Byrd wowed again and again. Can't wait to see where he goes next.

Best Solo Arc: Victory Has Defeated You (Spike_x1)

Spike's arc with Bane this season has not only been a unique turn for the character, but it's also addressed one of my primary complaints about the character in the comics - after he breaks the Bat, what exactly is he supposed to do next? Spike answers that by having Bane leisurely wave off the power he's gained and instead thrusting himself into every battle he can, hoping to recapture the drive that he had to send Bruce Wayne off of Wayne Tower. It's a cautionary tale for a supervillain - once you win, what good are you? And of course, with Spike's portrayal of Bane already pitch-perfect, it's an engaging and fascinating character study.

Best Multi-PC Story Arc: The Justice League versus The Legion of Doom

As someone who decided to stick to his guns and opt out of having Bruce Wayne as Batman take part in anything for an entire season, I have to say that this arc was the closest I ever came to regretting it. Not only did it last from beginning to near end, but it built up to a point that made the eventual clash between the two teams all the more epic and seismic. On one side, you have a Justice League who's been morally drug through the dirt all season with a man down and no leader to follow. On the other, the confident and war-hungry Vandal Savage following his plan precisely to the letter, nearly taking the League down in one fell swoop. Had I been apart of it, I'm sure I would've had alot of fun pitting Batman against Clayface or Savage himself (or both, given they were at one point the same), but it was a terrific read regardless.

Yeah, just read that and tell me Nygma wasn't one of the most brilliantly executed characters in any Hype RPG history. Not only was it an ending befitting of a great criminal drama, it was something that genuinely shocked me when I read it. I actually didn't know what Byrd had planned for Nygma, figuring he'd either kill him or put him in an even higher position of power. But nope, his fate was actually worse than death. Even though should The Riddler come along in this continuity, it'll have to be someone else doing the puzzles, I am more than glad in knowing that at least Byrd's work of sheer brilliance (yes, I called him brilliant twice) with the character will remain untouched.

MVP: Byrd Man

At this point, who else would it be? No one has kicked our asses harder, lent more moral support, contributed to more IC posts, or just generally kept the game afloat than Byrd. Hell, this is kind of redundant, at this point. The man is MVP for life, as far as I'm concerned.

Best Hero: The Flash. I can't help but feel that the Flash is like the heart and soul of the UDCU. He's been through ups and downs as a solo character and as part of a team, and you really feel the sense of loss when he refuses to go along with the Justice League any more.

Best Villain: Lex Luthor. Yeah, he really only came into serious play right there at the end, but it really says something about him that you can feel his slimy fingers pulling strings in the background long before he triumphantly took center stage. And even then, when you know it's coming and Andy is going to make life hell for the heroes, he's made it so well thought out for Lex that there's still nothing you can do about it.

Best Character Development: The Flash. Again, I love seeing his ups and downs. Dude's been to alien worlds and fought crazy WTF villains, and had this idea all along of what kind of heroes he's been hanging out with, both in the superhero community and in his own family. So what happens when his heroes don't live up to that image? We're finding out right now.

Best Solo Arc: Robin's shenanigans. All of it. I'm a sucker for Dick Grayson romances and I squee like a little girl whenever Dick and Raven have their will-they-won't-they moments. And then throw in the whole Titans and Queen Bee tomfoolery. Great stuff.

Best Multi-PC Story Arc: The Justice League vs. The Legion of Doom. No denying that it had a few hiccups, but the end results were well worth the effort. Cool action scenes, challenges to morality, character development, and much more. I loved it.

Best Post: Byrd's finale for the Flash.

MVP: Byrd Man. No question.

Best Fight (why does nobody ever include this category anymore ?): Bane vs. Red Hood and Question at Wonder Tower. That was just plain fun on a bun with sex on top.

__________________"Look into the soul of Bane and know the truth. We will topple your kingdom if it takes an eternity. We will defeat Hell."

I'm a sucker for Dick Grayson romances and I squee like a little girl whenever Dick and Raven have their will-they-won't-they moments.

I'm actually really relieved that someone else has been enjoying that subplot. Between Robin/Raven in UDC, and a lot of the stuff I did with Spidey in ASM, I was starting to think I was coming off as this guy:

So, yeah, good to know I'm not the only one who's getting a kick out of it.